Interior finish for cedar chests



United States Patent 1 INTERIOR FINISH FOR CEDAR CHESTS Ernest C.v Crocker, Belmont, Mass., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Lane Company, Inc., Altavista, Va., a corporation of Virginia No Drawing. Application August 27, 1951, Serial No. 243,920

11 Claims. (Cl. 117-161) This invention relates to an improved method of finishing cedar aroma exuding surfaces and particularly cedar chests, wardrobes and like storage receptacles having such surfaces.

As set forth in Crocker Patent No. 1,999,960 of April 30, 1935, the use of the cedar aroma exuded by a cedar surface in a protective agent poses a number of serious problems. These problems are more acute when the cedar aroma exuding surfaces are interior surfaces of cedar chest, cedar wardrobe or other storage receptacle and become especially troublesome in receptacles of pressure-tight construction. If such surfaces are made partly or wholly of cedar wood and uncoated, the aroma will flush rapidly from the pores of the wood, initially filling the receptacle with a concentration of aroma far in excess of that required for insecticidal purposes. After the initial flush has dissipated, cedar wood is left relatively impoverished in cedar oil with resultant decrease in the protection afforded to the articles stored in the receptacle. Not only is there this relatively rapid exhaustion of the aroma, but the vapor tends to. condense on any portions of the surface where the oil may be concentrated, as around-knot holes, and also on interior hardware, progressively building up gummy deposits at these points, which detract from the appearance of the receptacle and may stain any articles contacted. Recognizing these deficiencies in conventional cedar receptacle construction, the aforementioned Crocker patent disclosed that by coating a cedar aroma exuding surface with pyroxylin or shellac, the first flush of aroma. could be prevented and: the surface forced to" exude its aroma at a controlled rate over: a: protracted period, with consequent increase in the effective lifeof the receptacle. In addition, either form of'coating' inhibited condensation of cedar vapor on the cedar surface, thereby eliminating oiliness or stickiness of the surface and, by the addition of an anti-catalyst, was enabled to prevent the vapor from depositing onthe hardware, as well. A further advantage was that both the pyroxylin and the. shellac brought out. the coloring of the cedar surface, thus enhancing its appearance. While the coatings of. the: Crocker patent have proved very satisfactory over long. years of service, extensive experiments have been conducted to find other coatings having as good or better properties when applied to cedar surfaces. As a result, the coating of the present invention was developed.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved method of finishing cedar aroma exuding surfaces for both controlling the rate of exudation of the cedar vapor and inhibiting its condensation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of finishing cedar aroma exuding surfaces which is capable of inhibiting condensation of the cedar vapor exuded by the surface both on that surface and on exposed hardware.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improved method of finishing cedar aroma exuding surfaces which not only controls the rate of exudation of auat zi ?atentecl Aug. 30, 1955 the cedar vapor and inhibits its condensation on any exposed surfaces, but is an effective carrier for beneficial additives, such as dyes, pigments and odorants.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter in the detailed description and be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

As previously outlined, Crocker Patent No. 1,999,960, teaches that there are a number of characteristics required of an effective coating for cedar aroma exuding surfaces. To recount, these characteristics are (1) control of rate of exudation of cedar vapor to obtain a substantially uniform flow over a protracted period, (2) protection of hardware, (3) protection of vapor exuding surface and (4) improvement of appearance. While possessing these several characteristics, the patented coatings require the addition of anti-catalysts to enable them to protect hardware from gummy deposits and, although improving the appearance of the cedar wood, do so primarily by intensifying the natural coloring of the wood. it was therefore realized that a coating which itself could protect hardware without an anti catalyst, otherwise possessed the other characteristics of the patented coatings and also could serve as a carrier for coloring, odorant, and other agents beneficial to a cedar surface, would be of very definite advantage. Thus, for example, a coloring agent could be added to a coating which would impart to it any desired color, rather than the natural color to which it had previously been limited. Such a coating was developed as a result of the aforementioned extensive experiments. This coating, to which the present invention is directed, is comprised of chlorinated rubber, either natural or synthetic, such for example, as the product of the Hercules Powder Company known as Parlon, a highly chlorinated natural rubber having a chlorine content of some 67%. The term chlorinated rubber is used herein in its accepted sense as defining a rubber whose double bonds have been essentially saturated with chlorine. Such rubber is to be sharply distinguished from rubbers, such as Neoprene, which contain some chlorine but are unsaturated and hydrochlorinated rubbers of the Pliolite type.

Applied as a protective coating to cedar aroma exuding surfaces and particularly to the interior surfaces of cedar chests and other receptacles, it was found that chlorinated rubber coatings were neutral to cedar oil and vapor, and have no attraction for the vapor, whether applied to an aroma exuding surface or to hardware. They are also of variable permeability to the vapor, depending on their thickness, enabling them to regulate the rate of the flow of the vapor. Additionally, chlorinated rubber is. an effective carrier for agents, additives. or auxiliary materials, which are beneficial to a cedar surface or the receptacle of which it forms a part, including dyes, pigments, odorants and other chemicals. It, therefore, permits a wide latitude in the interior finishes commercially available for such surfaces.

On exterior surfaces which are exposed to strong sunlight, chlorinated rubber coatings have a tendency to become discolored and embrittled, but permanently retain their original condition when applied to interior surfaces which are normally in the dark and only occasionally exposed. They are thus ideally suited for coating the interiors of chests, closets and like receptacles in which benefit is derived from the use of cedar Wood or other cedar vapor exuding medium. In many applications, the stability of chlorinated rubber must be increased by the addition of plasticizers, but on cedar wood, no instability was found to exist, permitting plasticizers to be eliminated and avoiding the stickiness from cedar aroma absorption which is characteristic of plasticized finishes.

From a commercial standpoint, the viscosity of the coating medium is of particular importance as it affects both the viscosity of the solution by which the coating is applied and the thickness of the film constituting the coating. Chlorinated rubber is of definite advantage in this regard in its availability in a wide range of viscosities. Thus Parlon is presently obtainable in viscosities ranging from 5 to 100 centipoises, and any viscosity or mixtures thereof, can be employed to effect the solution and film properties desired, but material having viscosities of 5 to 20 centipoises is preferred.

A further consideration is the type and availability of the solvents by which the coatings can be applied in fluid form as a surface coating. Here again chlorinated rubbers are of especial advantage since, as is well known, they are readily soluble in a number of organic solvents suitable for the purpose, the Parlon to which reference has previously been made, being dissolvable in esters and hydro-carbons of the same types as are employed for nitro-cellulose, such as a mixture of butyl acetate, toluene and Troluoil, the last being a trade name of a cut of petroleum boiling at about 100 C. and used as a toluene extender.

It has been mentioned that chlorinated rubbers are effective carriers for pigments, among other chemicals, with its consequent ability to impart to a cedar wood surface other-than its natural color. If such a departure from common practice is not desired, this carrier function of chlorinated rubber also lends itself to the use of oil-soluble red, and other suitable dyes to reinforce the color of the cedar wood, as well as to the addition of pigments to control the gloss, feel or transparency of the surface, its so-called cosmetic qualities. Again, while the odor of cedar is one of the earmarks of cedar Wood, there are occasions when it is wanted to intensify, decrease or even change this odor Without afiecting the insecticidal properties of the vapor. This is readily accomplishable by the addition of suitable perfumes to the initial solution. These and numerous other such agents or auxiliary materials of advantage or benefit in commercial interior finishes and termed collectively beneficial additives, are also readily carried by the chlorinated rubber.

From the above-detailed description, it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved coating for and method of finishing cedar aroma exuding surfaces which is particularly suited for application as an interior finish to cedar chests and like receptacles and, so applied, renders a receptacle moth-proof for a protracted period by controlling the flow of cedar vapor, protects both the interior of the receptacle, including its hardware, and articles stored therein from the cedar vapor, and, by its carrier" function, enables agents having properties desired in particular applications to be incorporated in the finish. It should be understood that the described em bodiment is merely exemplary of the invention and that all modifications are intended to be included which do not depart either from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated rubber.

2. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptivc of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated natural rubber.

3. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated synthetic rubber.

4. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying to said surface a coating composition of unplasticized chlorinated rubber dissolved in an organic solvent.

5. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying to said surface a coating composition of unplasticized chlorinated rubber dissolved in an organic solvent and carrying a beneficial additive.

6. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying to said surface a coating composition of unplasticized chlorinated natural rubber dissolved in an organic solvent and carrying a beneficial additive.

7. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated rubber carrying a beneficial additive.

8. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated natural rubber carrying a beneficial additive.

9. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated rubber carrying an odorant.

10. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated rubber carrying a pigment.

11. A method of finishing an interior cedar aroma exuding surface with a finish permeable to and nonabsorptive of cedar aroma comprising applying initially in fluid form to said surface unplasticized chlorinated rubber carrying a dye.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,996,937 Spencer Apr. 9, 1935 1,999,960 Crocker Apr. 30, 1935 2,327,871 Crocker Aug. 24, 1943 2,560,869 Lichty July 17, 1951 

1. A METHOD OF FINISHING AN INTERIOR CEDAR AROMA EXUDING SURFACE WITH A FINISH PERMEABLE TO AND NONABSORPTIVE OF CEDAR AROMA COMPRISING APPLYING INITIALLY IN FLUID FORM TO SAID SURFACE UNPLASTICIZED CHLORINATED RUBBER. 